Tuesday, August 5th "2025" Daily Prep
Welcome to day 217, known as Blogger Day, National Couscous Day, National Underwear Day, Work Like A Dog Day. Your star sign is Leo and your birthstone is Peridot.
1996 – The long running UK TV music show “Top Of The Pops” had hit rock bottom with it’s lowest audience ever – only two and a half million viewers. In its heyday the show attracted over 17 million viewers each week.
Todays birthdays
1952 – Louis Walsh (73), Irish music manager (Boyzone, Westlife) and television personality (The X Factor), born in Kiltimagh, Ireland.
1963 – Mark Strong, born Marco Giuseppe Salussolia (62), British actor (Kingsman: The Secret Service, Grimsby, Cruella, Sherlock Holmes), born in London.
1965 – Mark Labbett (60), English professional quizzer and television personality (‘The Beast’ on The Chase and Beat The Chasers), born in Tiverton, Devon.
1975 – Antony Cotton (50), English actor best known for his roles as Sean Tully in Coronation Street and Alexander Perry in Queer As Folk, born in Bury, Lancashire.
1980 – Wayne Bridge (44), English former professional footballer (Southampton, Chelsea, Manchester City, England), born in Southampton.
1997 – Dominic Harrison (28), known professionally as Yungblud, English rock singer and songwriter (“Lowlife”), born in Doncaster, South Yorkshire.
Famous deaths
1984 – Richard Burton (b. 1925), Welsh actor and producer (Cleopatra, Where Eagles Dare, The Taming of the Shrew).
The day today
1925 – The political party Plaid Cymru was formed with the aim of disseminating knowledge of the Welsh language which was, at the time, in danger of dying out.
1963 – A Nuclear Test Ban Treaty was signed in Moscow by Russia, the United States and Britain. Under the treaty, nuclear tests in the Earth’s atmosphere, in space or under the sea were outlawed.
1975 – Forestry Commission officials announced that Dutch elm disease, which had attacked more than three million trees in Britain, was spreading.
1976 – The clock overlooking the Houses of Parliament stopped for the first time in 117 years. The clock’s air brake speed regulator failed, causing the pendulum weights to spiral out of control and the mechanism to explode resulting in a nearly nine-month shutdown for repairs.
1983 – Twenty two members of the IRA were jailed for a total of more than 4,000 years following Northern Ireland’s biggest-ever terrorist trial.
1986 – Princess Anne rode Gulfland to win the 3.45 at Redcar; her first victory as a jockey.
2013 – The world’s first lab-grown burger, made from bovine stem cells, was cooked and eaten at a press conference in London. The burger was developed by scientists at Maastricht University, with funding from Google co-founder Sergey Brin.
2016 – The Summer Olympic Games officially open in the Maracanã Stadium, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Great Britain finished 2nd on the medal table with 27 gold, 23 silver and 17 bronze for a total of 67.
2024 – British graffiti artist Banksy created the first in a series of animal artworks in London. Banksy’s first piece was the silhouette of a goat near Kew Bridge, followed by a new piece each day for seven days. All the works in the series were of animals, including monkeys, a cat, and piranhas on a police box.
Today in music
1956 – Doris Day was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Whatever Will Be Will Be’, the singer actress’ second UK No.1 single. The Oscar-winning song was featured in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1956 film, The Man Who Knew Too Much, with Doris Day and James Stewart in the lead roles.
1965 – The Beatles were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Help!’ the group’s eighth consecutive UK No.1 single. John Lennon later stated he wrote the lyrics of the song to express his stress after the Beatles’ quick rise to success. “I was fat and depressed and I was crying out for Help.”
1986 – Culture Club keyboard player Michael Rudetsky was found dead at Boy George’s London home in Hampstead.
1989 – Jive Bunny And The Mastermixers had their first of three UK No.1’s with ‘Swing The Mood’. Produced by the father and son DJ team of Andy and John Pickles, Swing the Mood fused a number of early rock and roll records with liberal use of Glenn Miller’s ‘In The Mood.’
1995 – Take That played the first of ten sold out nights at The Nynex Arena, Manchester, (the shows were without Robbie Williams who had quit the group on 17th July 1995). The group were also at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Never Forget’, their 7th UK No.1 and last with Robbie Williams.
1996 – The long running UK TV music show Top Of The Pops had hit rock bottom with it’s lowest audience ever with only two and a half million viewers. In its heyday the show attracted over 17 million viewers each week.
2021 – Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga played the second of two sold-out shows at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. It was Bennett’s last ever performance, a week later the 95-year-old singer, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2016, announced he was retiring from performing. Tony died on the 21st July 2023.
Today in history
642 AD – The Battle of Maserfield (now widely identified as Oswestry), between the Anglo-Saxon kings Oswald of Northumbria and Penda of Mercia. The battle ended in Oswald’s defeat, death, and dismemberment.
910 AD – The last major Viking army to raid England was defeated at the Battle of Tettenhall by the allied forces of Mercia and Wessex, led by King Edward and Earl Aethelred.
1305 – Sir William Wallace, Scottish hero and champion of Scottish independence who beat Edward I at the battle of Stirling Bridge, was captured by the English and later executed as a traitor.
1583 – English soldier and navigator Sir Humphrey Gilbert (half-brother of Sir Walter Raleigh) established the first English colony in North America, at what is now St John’s, Newfoundland and claimed it for Elizabeth I.
1620 – The Mayflower departed from Southampton on its first attempt to reach North America but the sister ship, the Speedwell developed a leak. It had to be refitted at Dartmouth and, after further leaks (or possibly sabotage) the Mayflower made the 60 day crossing alone.
1729 – The death of Thomas Newcomen. Newcomen created the first practical steam engine for pumping water from tin mines. Prior to his invention, flooding was a major problem, thus limiting the depth at which the mineral could be mined. This Newcomen engine at Elsecar in South Yorkshire was built in 1795 to extract water from the local colliery. It is the only one of its kind in the world to remain in its original location.
1816 – Francis Ronalds built the first working electric telegraph in his garden on Hammersmith’s Upper Mall. He offered his new invention to the Government, who dismissed it as being ‘wholly unnecessary’. At this time the government was relying on a visual system (the semaphore) and it took a further 20 years for the electric telegraph to be commercialised.